Aquinas traditional-age undergraduates receive four years of career/professional development. Students receive guidance on: assessing their strengths and skills, developing their goals, honing leadership/team skills, creating a resume, building a portfolio and networking.

Aquinas freshmen take Inquiry and Expression, a course that emphasizes written and oral communication, research methods, critical thinking and basic quantitative reasoning.

Aquinas sophomores undertake an in-depth study in the humanities.

Aquinas juniors take courses in the Religious Dimensions of Human Existence, with a focus on one of three dimensions: Scripture, Catholic/Christian Thought or Contemporary Religious Experience.

Every Aquinas College traditional-age graduate has studied a second language and is proficient in that language through the 102 level.

Note: Aquinas College follows a two-semester calendar with a summer session. The College also accepts credit through CLEP and Advanced Placement.

AQ Academic Facilities:

Grace Hauenstein Library

The Grace Hauenstein Library is a vital component of the Aquinas College academic program. TomCat, the library's online catalog, allows students to quickly and effectively search the 110,000 volumes in the library's collection. With online access to over 86 electronic indexes and other databases, as well as subscriptions to nearly 800 periodicals, the library provides Aquinas students with abundant opportunities to retrieve information required for their course work.

The library's collection also includes 1,260 sound recordings and 3,300 video recordings, as well as a juvenile collection, U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops publications and numerous other materials supporting the College's curriculum. And because the Grace Hauenstein Library is a member of the Online Computerized Library Center (OCLC), Aquinas students have access to more than 60 million books and other items through interlibrary loan.

Computer Labs and Technology

Computer labs networked with personal computers are available in the student center, library and academic buildings for student use. Many faculty members also use the computer labs to better instruct their students. All classrooms and residence halls are wired for network access. Mobile multimedia carts are available to aid faculty-led classroom instruction as well as student presentations.

A 24-hour online knowledge center and tech support system aid in training and on campus help desk services, including: on-site support, telephone support, training sessions and new student/new employee orientation sessions.

Albertus Magnus Hall of Science

Along with classrooms and lecture halls, Albertus Magnus Hall of Science features the Baldwin Observatory, numerous science labs and a greenhouse. It is also the starting point for the Foster Planet Walk.

The Foster Planet Walk is a scale model of the Solar System designed to give everyone in the Grand Rapids community a chance to experience our Solar System.

Jarecki-Lacks Center

The Jarecki-Lacks Center is West Michigan's first high tech learning center. Capturing the attention of both the campus and general community, the Center houses the Grace Hauenstein Library and provides the strategic integration of technology with learning environments and teaching methods to meet the needs of students, businesses and community organizations.

Other Facilities:

The Performing Arts Center: A multi-million dollar professional theatre with 400+ permanent seats.

The Cook Carriage House: Home to the Moose Cafe, the campus' own coffee house.

The Art and Music Center features: a dark room, a 200 seat recital hall, an art gallery, a recording studio and a sculpture studio.